ABSTRACT
There is now a growing interest in the investigations of possible contributions of rammed earth building envelopes to the reduction of energy used to ensure good thermal comfort in buildings for heating, cooling and managing humidity level. High thermal mass as well as the strong coupling between heat and moisture transfers seem to be the major elements (Martin et al, 2010, Allison and Hall 2010). In order to analyze precisely this contribution, it is anticipated that dynamic hygrothermal phenomena at whole building scale should be investigated, both using experimental
1 INTRODUCTION
Earth and timber are among the oldest materials used by the humans to construct dwellings and shelters. Through ages and regions, different types of constructions were developed, such as for example adobe, rammed earth, sometimes stabilized with lime or cement, timber frame with straw/earth filling, etc.
